Gulbara Amankulova: "Debates help us to hear our children and respond to their problems in a timely manner"

Gulbara AMANKULOVA has been the chief specialist for the social sector at the Tokmok Mayor's Office for many years. Her focus is Tokmok's adolescent children who commit crimes. Every year, the city's local self-government bodies planned and implemented activities that included traditional methods of preventing offenses among minors, such as Juvenile Liaison Office inspector lectures and extracurricular hours in schools in which students were only passive participants. The lectures were uninteresting to them and had no desired effect. In the meantime, the figures grew: in the register in 2020, there were 47 cases of offense; in 2021, there were 41.

"I can't say that juvenile delinquency has always been the most significant problem in our city, but, regrettably, there has been a growing trend in this direction in recent years. Of course, we worked with juvenile offenders, but as it turned out, none of this was the case. During routine events, only we, the adults, spoke, leaving the children's voices unheard, the reasons for their actions unspoken, and their dreams and desires unaccounted for."
Gulbara AMANKULOVA, Chief Specialist for the social sector of Tokmok Mayor's Office.

While Gulbara struggled to find a solution to this problem, the Mayor's Office became one of the 25 locations where the European Union-funded project "Yntymaktuu Zhashoo," implemented by the International Alert organization in collaboration with the Development Policy Institute and the National Mediation Center, began. After learning about the project's mission[1], the Mayor's Office decided to try a new method of prevention work with teenagers: debates. Young people, speakers, and volunteers from the "ZhashTime" initiative group came to assist.

"The advantage of this method is that students actively participate in the process. While debating, children argue and offer solutions to problems. Furthermore, debates help children develop critical thinking skills. We get feedback by giving them a microphone, first of all. Second, within the framework of the proposed form of debate between the parliament and the opposition, children find legitimate ways to solve problems. The judges assess and make corrections to the debating process by awarding points with comments and arguments."
Kishimjan ESTEBESOVA, one of the organizers of the first debate tournament in Tokmok.

The Tokmok Mayor's Office, in collaboration with volunteers from the ZhashTime initiative movement, organized the first debate tournament on the grounds of gymnasium school No. 1 named after A. S. Pushkin in March 2022, as part of the mini-project "Organization of Debate Clubs." It was attended by 30 of the best students, aged 15 to 17, from 13 secondary schools in the city. Prizes for the debate tournament winners and participants were purchased with funds from the local budget totaling 25 thousand soms.

"We gave the students the microphone so that they could express their point of view, justify it, and defend it if necessary, using critical thinking and their knowledge of the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, rights, and obligations. Through the debate, we hoped to identify and comprehend the causes of offenses among the city's minor citizens in order to prevent them in the future."
Gulbara AMANKULOVA, Chief Specialist for the social sector of the Tokmok Mayor's Office.

At the conclusion of the debate tournament, the participants shared their first impressions, noting that the practice turned out to be very different from the theory learned during the preliminary trainings.

"The concept of "debate" is not new to me, but I am participating in it for the first time. The impression is dual, but I came to realize one thing: through debates, you can articulately and competently develop your viewpoint on a given subject, bolstering it with valid justifications. The speaker gave us a direction for reflection by announcing the topic resolution, and the tab maker also influenced and corrected the course of our thoughts by counting the points. The entire process was strictly timed and followed predetermined rules. It helped us to stay calm, think quickly, and express ourselves clearly."
Evnir SAVENOV, a student at secondary school No. 1 of Tokmok.

In the future, the Mayor's Office plans to organize a debate club in each school in the city and to monitor the dynamics of the increase in cases of offenses among minors as a result of the debates. The first debate participants took part in the second round of the tournament, which took place on April 4, and will now begin teaching all participants in the newly opened debate clubs in city schools. Furthermore, the Mayor's Office held a number of events within the framework of the project aimed at preventing social conflicts and strengthening and building peace among the population, among which the annual city forum "Conflicts in Our Lives" and the forum "Safe Holidays" can be highlighted.

"Based on the results of the first half of this year, we have identified 18 cases of offenses among minors. Of course, this does not represent the entire year, but we intend to keep moving in this direction. We are already seeing positive changes in the moods of our children and adolescents as a result of various preventive activities. Teenagers who have participated in "debates" or simply have an idea about them serve as role models for their younger peers. We purchased office equipment (laptop, projector, screen, speakers, etc.) with grant funds from the Yntymaktuu Zhashoo project, which will be used in the work of the city debate club. We also included the city publication "My City Tokmok" in our mini-project, which will cover the implementation process. We are planning to participate in regional and national debate tournaments." Gulbara AMANKULOVA, Chief Specialist for the social sector of the Tokmok Mayor's Office.

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[1] International Alert has been working with the Development Policy Institute and the National Mediation Center to create a platform to support active youth, civil society, and local governments to prevent social conflicts, maintain law and order, and train in mediation skills in 25 selected locations in Kyrgyzstan. For more information, visit www.international-alert.org